Narendra Modi: From tea vendor to PM

A victorious Narendra Modi is offered sweets by his mother Hiraba after he saught her blessings at her home in Gandhinagar as election results showed a landslide win for BJP led by him.

A victorious Narendra Modi is offered sweets by his mother Hiraba after he saught her blessings at her home in Gandhinagar as election results showed a landslide win for BJP led by him. (AFP/Indranil Mukherjee)

Hiraben, the 90-year-old mother of opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and India's next prime minister Narendra Modi, flashes the victory symbol as she celebrates with her son after preliminary results showed the BJP winning by a landslide, in Gandhinagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, Friday, May 16, 2014.

Hiraben, the 90-year-old mother of opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and India's next prime minister Narendra Modi, flashes the victory symbol as she celebrates with her son after preliminary results showed the BJP winning by a landslide, in Gandhinagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, Friday, May 16, 2014. (AP/Saurabh Das)

Modi's singular message on the economy has helped him ignore or beat back criticism of his personal life, including his strong links to a right-wing Hindu nationalist group, as well as his four-decade marriage to a retired school teacher he had never mentioned publicly until last month.

Modi's singular message on the economy has helped him ignore or beat back criticism of his personal life, including his strong links to a right-wing Hindu nationalist group, as well as his four-decade marriage to a retired school teacher he had never mentioned publicly until last month. (AFP/Sam Panthaky)

After a presidential-style campaign built around him and his record during 13 years running Gujarat, expectations are sky-high of what Modi will deliver in a chaotic and still poor country that is home to a sixth of humanity.

After a presidential-style campaign built around him and his record during 13 years running Gujarat, expectations are sky-high of what Modi will deliver in a chaotic and still poor country that is home to a sixth of humanity. (AFP/Prakash Singh)

For one who sold tea as a boy at a railway station in Gujarat, Narendra Modi has had a meteoric rise in Indian politics, catapulting from an untested chief minister of 2001 to becoming the PM in just 12 years.

For one who sold tea as a boy at a railway station in Gujarat, Narendra Modi has had a meteoric rise in Indian politics, catapulting from an untested chief minister of 2001 to becoming the PM in just 12 years. (Reuters)

Wedded to Hindutva - or the ideology of Hindu nationalism - from a young age, the 62-year-old Gujarat strongman, who evokes emotions like no other politician, is uncompromising vis-a-vis his goals, with an ability to transform every adversity into an opportunity, his colleagues say.

Wedded to Hindutva - or the ideology of Hindu nationalism - from a young age, the 62-year-old Gujarat strongman, who evokes emotions like no other politician, is uncompromising vis-a-vis his goals, with an ability to transform every adversity into an opportunity, his colleagues say. (Reuters)

He became the first 'pracharak' (campaigner) in Hindu right-wing politics to become a chief minister in only 13 years, taking control of one of India's most developed states though he had no administrative experience until then.

He became the first 'pracharak' (campaigner) in Hindu right-wing politics to become a chief minister in only 13 years, taking control of one of India's most developed states though he had no administrative experience until then. (Reuters)

But in his long political innings, his biographers and critics have accused Modi of dumping those who helped him to go up the ladder. The latest in the list is Lal Krishna Advani, who as a star of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mentored Modi even when he was virtually unknown.

But in his long political innings, his biographers and critics have accused Modi of dumping those who helped him to go up the ladder. The latest in the list is Lal Krishna Advani, who as a star of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mentored Modi even when he was virtually unknown. (Reuters)

Political analyst GVL Narasimha Rao, who knows Modi intimately, said, "He is a man of firm conviction. He is extremely honest and hard working. He has not given to compromises, whatever the consequences. And Modi will never bend even for the sake of a temporary victory."

Political analyst GVL Narasimha Rao, who knows Modi intimately, said, "He is a man of firm conviction. He is extremely honest and hard working. He has not given to compromises, whatever the consequences. And Modi will never bend even for the sake of a temporary victory." (Reuters)